Delaware River Basin Catchments Based on Strahler Stream Order 1 Determined from a 900-cell Flow Accumulation Raster in Areas Not Covered by NHD Catchments for 8-digit HUC

A breakthrough in water resources management occurred in 1961 when President Kennedy and the governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York for the first time signed concurrent compact legislation into law creating a regional body with the force of law to oversee a unified approach to managing a river system without regard to political boundaries. The members of this regional body - the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) - include the four basin state governors and the Division Engineer, North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who serves as the federal representative. Commission programs include water quality protection, water supply allocation, regulatory review (permitting), water conservation initiatives, watershed planning, drought management, flood loss reduction, and recreation. Much of the new drilling interest taking place in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York is targeted at reaching the natural gas found in the Marcellus Shale formation, which underlies about 36 percent of the Delaware River Basin. Because the Marcellus Shale is considered a tight geologic formation, natural gas deposits were not previously thought to be practically and economically mineable using traditional techniques. New horizontal drilling and extraction methods, coupled with higher energy costs, have given energy companies reason to take a new interest in mining the natural gas deposits within the Marcellus Shale. In connection with natural gas drilling, the commission has identified three major areas of concern: 1.Gas drilling projects in the Marcellus Shale or other formations may have a substantial effect on the water resources of the basin by reducing the flow in streams and/or aquifers used to supply the significant amounts of fresh water needed in the natural gas mining process. 2.On-site drilling operations may potentially add, discharge or cause the release of pollutants into the ground water or surface water. 3.The recovered "frac water" must be treated and disposed of properly. DRBC is identifying methods, geospatial data, and other information to support decision making on how best to oversee the Marcellus Shale drilling in the Delaware River Basin (DRB).

Data and Resources

This dataset has no data

Field	Value
access_constraints	["Use Constraints: None. Users are advised to read the data set's metadata thoroughly to understand appropriate use and data limitations.Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy and validity of the data nor shall the fact of distribution constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in connection herewith.", "Access Constraints: No access constraints."]
bbox-east-long	-74.599035305
bbox-north-lat	42.398925578
bbox-south-lat	41.49185091
bbox-west-long	-75.54199406
contact-email	shoffman@usgs.gov
coupled-resource	[]
dataset-reference-date	[{"type": "publication", "value": "2016-09-30"}]
frequency-of-update	notPlanned
licence	["Distributor assumes no liability for misuse of data. The USER shall indemnify, save harmless, and, if requested, defend those parties involved with the development and distribution of this data, their officers, agents, and employees from and against any suits, claims, or actions for injury, death, or property damage arising out of the use of or any defect in the FILES or any accompanying documentation. Those parties involved with the development and distribution excluded any and all implied warranties, including warranties or merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and makes no warranty or representation, either express or implied, with respect to the FILES or accompanying documentation, including its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. The FILES and documentation are provided \"as is\" and the USER assumes the entire risk as to its quality and performance. Those parties involved with the development and distribution of this data will not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the FILES or any accompanying documentation."]
metadata-date	2016-09-21
metadata-language	eng; USA
metadata_type	geospatial
progress	completed
resource-type	dataset
responsible-party	[{"name": "U.S. Geological Survey, Northeast Region", "roles": ["pointOfContact"]}]
spatial	{"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-75.54199406, 41.49185091], [-74.599035305, 41.49185091], [-74.599035305, 42.398925578], [-75.54199406, 42.398925578], [-75.54199406, 41.49185091]]]}
spatial_harvester	true
Groups	AmeriGEOSS National Provider North America
Tags	amerigeo amerigeoss ckan delaware delaware-river delaware-river-basin geo geoss maryland national new-jersey new-york north-america pennsylvania united-states
isopen	False
metadata_created	2025-11-22T15:03:37.130770
metadata_modified	2025-11-22T15:03:37.130774
notes	A breakthrough in water resources management occurred in 1961 when President Kennedy and the governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York for the first time signed concurrent compact legislation into law creating a regional body with the force of law to oversee a unified approach to managing a river system without regard to political boundaries. The members of this regional body - the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) - include the four basin state governors and the Division Engineer, North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who serves as the federal representative. Commission programs include water quality protection, water supply allocation, regulatory review (permitting), water conservation initiatives, watershed planning, drought management, flood loss reduction, and recreation. Much of the new drilling interest taking place in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York is targeted at reaching the natural gas found in the Marcellus Shale formation, which underlies about 36 percent of the Delaware River Basin. Because the Marcellus Shale is considered a tight geologic formation, natural gas deposits were not previously thought to be practically and economically mineable using traditional techniques. New horizontal drilling and extraction methods, coupled with higher energy costs, have given energy companies reason to take a new interest in mining the natural gas deposits within the Marcellus Shale. In connection with natural gas drilling, the commission has identified three major areas of concern: 1.Gas drilling projects in the Marcellus Shale or other formations may have a substantial effect on the water resources of the basin by reducing the flow in streams and/or aquifers used to supply the significant amounts of fresh water needed in the natural gas mining process. 2.On-site drilling operations may potentially add, discharge or cause the release of pollutants into the ground water or surface water. 3.The recovered "frac water" must be treated and disposed of properly. DRBC is identifying methods, geospatial data, and other information to support decision making on how best to oversee the Marcellus Shale drilling in the Delaware River Basin (DRB).
num_resources	0
num_tags	15
title	Delaware River Basin Catchments Based on Strahler Stream Order 1 Determined from a 900-cell Flow Accumulation Raster in Areas Not Covered by NHD Catchments for 8-digit HUC